A vehicle closure may be opened to provide access to an area of the vehicle or closed to secure it. A vehicle closure may be a door, decklid, hood, or top, among other things. A vehicle door is typically a type of closure that is in front of an opening which is used for entering and exiting a vehicle. A vehicle door may be hinged or attached by other mechanisms such as tracks, such as often used to access cargo areas of vans. A rear door on a vehicle may also be referred to as a hatch or tailgate. Traditionally the hatch is a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area, and the vehicle this door is on is referred to as a hatchback. A tailgate is a rear door that is hinged at the bottom and is common on station wagons, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
A decklid, also known as a trunk lid or boot lid, is the closure that allows access to the main storage or luggage compartment. A hood, which may also be referred to as a bonnet, is a closure that allows access to an engine (or prime mover) compartment. A top is a form of vehicle closure that may open the cockpit of a vehicle to the open-air, and the kinds of vehicles that have a top are generally referred to as convertibles.
Most vehicle closures require a means for securing the closure to the vehicle when the closure is in a closed position. A latch and striker combination may be used with a vehicle closure to releasably engage the latch on to the striker to secure the closure. Typically the latch is located on the closure and the striker is located on the vehicle proximate to the opening the closure encloses when closed. The striker typically extends away from the vehicle to which it is attached allowing the latch to engage and at least partially wrap around a portion of the striker.
Although a striker may be partially disposed in a void, when a closure is opened the striker is visible. A visible striker may be undesirable from a fit and finish concern. An outwardly extending striker may provide a snag point on clothing or parcels moving through the closure opening. The striker may also have grease or other debris that may transfer to articles as they pass though the closure opening.